Features

History of the world in 100 modern objects

This week: Arsenal scarf

Tom, 41, who works in digital media, has an Arsenal season ticket. On
Saturdays, he makes the pilgrimage from his house in Archway to the
Emirates, stopping for a venison pasty at Piebury Corner. This scarf, which
he bought on deciding to support Arsenal as a teenager in Bath, is part of
the ritual. Afterwards, the mood at home will be governed by the score.

Tom can’t wait to introduce his two-year-old son, Henry, to the Gooners, and
buys him a miniature red strip. His wife, Emily, is mortified when he takes
Henry to Gymboree in it and blurts out the c-word (“common”). But Emily will
never get it. She doesn’t know Henry is named after Thierry, or that Tom
surreptitiously checked the score while she gave birth. She wouldn’t
understand how the drone of the crowd stirs something primal in him. She has
never seen her husband weep, but